


Remember Me

by xXpurpleskiesXx



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crime Scenes, Drama & Romance, Eventual Relationships, F/F, F/M, Family Drama, Family Secrets, Friendship, M/M, Mild Language, Organized Crime, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-05-29 11:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6373309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXpurpleskiesXx/pseuds/xXpurpleskiesXx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After witnessing her father dying, Sasha is left having to face the repercussions of his actions prior to his death. Can she, with the help of the officers in charge of her father's case, Jean and Eren, uncover the secret he took to his grave, or will it be too late? [AU] JeanxSasha. Multiple pairings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Prologue

* * *

  
Running down the street the man held back a sob. He wasn't prone to crying, seeing as he usually never showed any outward emotion, but he'd make an exception in this case.  
He turned around and noticed there were three men running after him.  
Swallowing the lump in his throat he decided not to cry. 'It's not going to solve anything. And it would only slow me down' he concluded. 'I got myself into this mess, I can only blame.' The middle aged man keep running, but he made the mistake of turning around once more. It was then that he noticed that the men that were once following him were no longer behind him.

'Did they give up?' he thought to himself.  
He then let out a chuckle and smiled sadly.  "Probably not, I should keep on running before-" he stopped mumbling to himself as he heard footsteps stop behind him. Sighing he closed his eyes before speaking.

"I see you managed to outrun and corner me." Alexander said to the men behind him. He closed his eyes and waited for what they were going to do. After a few moments he suddenly felt a hand grab his neck from behind and he was spun around to look at them.

"I told you not to run." one of the men hissed.

"I had to at least try." Alexander said.

"I take it you are aware that your time is up?" he asked.

"I'm fully aware."

"If you were aware then why did you run?"

"Because," Alexander pauses before continuing his answer, "I don't have the money to pay it back."

"Well then," another voice called out from behind the man who held his neck said. The taller male turned to his associate, "let him go," he commanded. The man pulled his hand away and stepped back. The man, who was a younger male with dark brown hair and piercing hazel eyes walked up to Alexander and gave him a wicked smile before continuing.

"Remember what the deal was, Alexander? If you can't pay it back with money you promised me your daughter."

His eyes widened. How had he completely forgotten that deal he made? At the time he had used that as an emergency backup in case a situation like this arouse, but he didn't think that it would even be possible so had agreed to it. 'How could I have been so stupid!'

"I'm not going to give you my daughter you can forget it!" he yelled out after snapping out of his thoughts. He suddenly felt a fist connect to his face, the impact knocked him off balance and he fell to the concrete. The man stood over him and smiled cruelly at him.

"Oh? I'm afraid you don't have a choice in that matter."

"You lay a hand on her and you'll be sorry, Luis!" he yelled at him. He felt something warm trickle down his lip. He wiped his lips with the sleeve of his shirt and notice blood.

"You're in no position to be making idle threats, Alexander! You owe me!" he yelled at him he and smiled at him, noting that he was bleeding.

"Exactly! I'm the one who owes you! Not her, so leave her out of it!"

"Ok, say I were to let you go. How long do you think it'll take for you to repay your debt?"

Pursing his lips in frustration he contemplated on lying but quickly changed his mind. 'Lying would only make the situation worse.' he sighed but didn't respond to his question.

"I'm waiting for an answer!"

"I don't have that kind of money! It would take me months to get your money back!"

The man crouched down so he could be face to face with him.  
"Wrong answer!" he said, getting back up to his feet, he turned to his associates, " take him to our base we'll figure out what to do with this ass when we get there. Oh and find out what you can about his daughter." And with that he started to walk away.

"No!" he yelled out he was about to get up and run after him but he felt himself being dragged by the other men. It was then Alexander broke down and started to cry. He knew his fate was sealed. There was no way out of the situation. 'I'm so sorry Sasha, I never meant to get you involved. I'm sorry.' were his last thoughts at the moment before being pushed into the backseat of a car.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

* * *

"Coffee please."

The brunette waitress jumped up in surprise and looked up from the newspaper she was reading. The diner had been dead for most of the day. So she spent almost her entire shift cleaning up and then decided to read the newspaper about a few minutes prior to the customer walking in.

"Oh gosh you startled me," she started to say then she looked up at who it was, "Oh it's you detective Kirstein."

"You don't sound happy to see me."

A pink tint appeared on her cheeks as she sheepishly tapped a finger on her chin.

"It's not that it's just that I wasn't expecting anyone to come into the diner today."

He walked up to the counter and took a seat on one of the bar stools.

"Its cool I was just teasing, you're so easily flustered. You make it to easy."

She let out a sigh. "Shut it Kirstein!"

"Do your job, Braus." he teased.

"I am.." she started to say but decided not to say what she was and instead said, "I'll be back in a second, coffee with cream and four sugars, right?" she asked.

He nodded his response as she went to the coffee station to make his coffee. He took the time to look around the small quaint diner. It was empty compared to any other day when it was so busy sometimes getting a cup of coffee was impossible.

"So has it really been like this all day?" he asked emphasizing the word this.

"Oh if by this, you mean dead, then yes it has been. The manager actually went home two hours ago. She figured no one would come in." Sasha answered his question as she walked toward him with his coffee. She placed it in front of him.

He muttered his thanks and took a sip. It was fresh and just like he wanted it. Then he looked up at her, "Wait she left you all alone?"

Sasha nodded her response as she leaned on the counter with her elbow.

"Isn't that against the rules?"

"Mmmh… but when you're the manager and owner I guess rules don't apply to you." She explained with a shrug.

"That is fucked up. What if you were to get robbed?"

The brunette let out a scoff, "Yeah, well then the thief would be in for a huge disappointment today, seeing as there is no money in the register."

"Still."

"Eh what can you do?" she asked before adding, "Where's your partner, detective Jaeger?"

"Oh that asshole?" He's in court fighting a ticket."

"You guys can get tickets?"

"Yeah." Jean answered taking another sip of his coffee.

"Aww, what was the ticket for?"

"Running a red light."

"But wait you guys have a good reason to do that especially if you're on the clock so why did he get a ticket?"

"Oh I told Officer Bott, that he ran the light with his police lights on because he was on his way to get donuts ."

"So you reported your partner for something he didn't do?"

"Yep."

"Now that's fucked up. I hope he beats it." She stuck her tongue out at him before adding, "You're a terrible person."

"Your words they wound me." he said dryly while rolling his eyes.

Sasha just shook her head.

Jean finished up his coffee. He was about to ask her for another cup when a voice came on over his radio.

' _10-18'._

He grabbed his radio and replied, "Copy that."

"Thanks for the coffee, Braus but I really got to go. Bye!"

Before she could reply, he was already out the door. She shook her head and looked down at where the empty coffee cup sat before she came to a realization.

"Damn it! He left without paying!"

* * *

Jean stepped out of his car and closed the door. He noticed there was police tape across the street where he was parked.

'Thankfully there's not much traffic and it's by the woods.' he thought to himself.

Had it been closer to the city it would have been near impossible to investigate without people interfering.

Crossing the street he walked up to one of the police officers at the scene. He placed his hands in his pockets and asked, "So what's the situation?"

The officer turned his attention to Jean before answering, "I just got here sir but detective Jaeger is over there," he said pointing to him, "he may know the status of the investigation."

Nodding his reply, Jean walked toward his partner.

"Yo Eren what's going on?"

The dark haired man turned his attention to Jean.

"Hey," he greeted before answering, "So someone called in they saw something suspicious laying on the road by the woods. So when I got here a few minutes ago I saw that," he motioned toward the body bag on the floor, "there was a body bag thrown across like garbage."

"Did anyone check what was in it?"

Eren shook his head, "I got here about 10 minutes ago which gave me time to secure the crime scene and then the rookie cops showed up about a minute or two before you did. But for some odd reason backup hasn't shown up and neither have the forensic team."

"What the hell? Seriously? What's wrong with them? They're suppose to be here?"

Eren tried not to let out a laugh. But shrugged, "I don't know man, but why don't we go on ahead and check out what's in the bag."

"Alright I mean I may as well because no one else wants to work or take anything seriously."

Eren rolled his eyes but stepped back and let Jean walk up to the bag.

The dark haired male held back a laugh as he waited for his plan to kick into action.

'I know he'll probably kill me for this but it serves him right, horse face.' he thought to himself.

Jean opened the zipper a little and as he got to a quarter of the way open an arm rolled out and fell onto the ground.

"We got a dead body Eren."

"Really? Are you sure it's a full body and not just parts?"

"I'm 100 percent sure."

"Why don't you make sure."

"Sure."

He unzipped it but before he could get to the halfway point, the body suddenly sat up making a deep growling noise.

"What the fuck!?" Jean yelled out jumping back up to his feet.

It was then that Eren couldn't help but start laughing.

"Why are you laughing?!"

"Your face man, it was priceless!" he answered.

Jean raised his eyebrow.

Walking over to the body bag Eren pulled the zipper all the way off.

Laughing subsided he patted her shoulder.

"Good job Hanji. We got him good. Thanks for the help."

"Oh it was no problem Eren! I was happy to help. I have to admit, I didn't think he'd fall for it."

"What's going on? Hanji why are you in a body bag?"

"Fixing her glasses she chuckled and shrugged. Then motioned to Eren.

"Ask him. I just went along with the prank." Turning her attention to the dark haired man she smiled. "See you later. Bye Eren." she walked toward Jean, "Later Jean."

"Later crazy." Eren called after her as she walked away.

The brown haired male frowned and crossed his arms, waiting for Eren to explain himself.

"What?"

"Care to explain why you pulled that stupid stunt?"

"I think you should know why I did it, _buddy._ ' He replied extending the word buddy.

"No actually I don't asshole, so do you mind enlightening me?"

"For trying to get me in trouble and almost getting me a ticket. Jerk face. I almost got written up by Commander Smith. And Lieutenant Ackerman almost bit my head off because of that prank you pulled. So I just thought that I'd get even."

"By wasting our time thinking there was a crime in progress?"

"No by wasting your time and scaring the crap out of you."

"Wouldn't Commander Smith be upset with you for pulling this, after all you wasted our teams time and resources. And aren't you on the clock?"

"Dude, Commander Smith knows. And Hanji talked him into getting the ok for it. And he okayed it because we did it on our lunch break and besides I bought the police tape and body bag online with my own money."

Jean just gave him a look before shaking his head and let out a chuckle.

"Well played. But I'll get you back."

Eren smirked. "Good luck in trying. But come on let's head back to the station. I have to clock back in. And we'll see if there's any leads on our investigation."

The two detectives headed toward Jeans car. They got inside but before Jean could even start the car, voice was heard over the radio.

" _We have a 10-33 in progress. Location is 346 Summer Lane Drive."_

Jean looked at Eren as he grabbed the radio.

"10-4." he spoke back to dispatch.

* * *

Sasha walked up to her apartment door and let out a sigh.

Pausing for a moment she went into her bag to look for her keys.

'Man what a day. Glad Its all over. No work tomorrow and no clashes until next week. I'm going to go take a shower and make order a pizza.' with those thoughts she pulled her keys out of her bag. She put the key into the keyhole and she instantly knew something was wrong. The door was unlocked. Going against her intuition, she turned the knob and slowly opened the door.

'Sasha this is stupid. You should just call the cops now and go wait outside.'

Walking inside she decided to leave the lights off, pulling her cell phone out of her sweater pocket she searched for the flashlight app on her phone. Once she found it she turned it on and started to walk inside.

Swallowing the lump in her throat she tip toed toward the kitchen. Looking around she didn't find anything out of place there she moved onto the living room/dining room combo. Going over everything as well as she could she noticed that two of the chairs were on the floor as if someone pushed them down.

'Okay So I was right, there is or was someone in my apartment.' she thought.

Turning her attention she contemplated on whether or not she should run now or keep looking through the house to see if anything was damaged or stolen.

'This this is stupid. My gut is telling me that there's something off, you should run.' the brunette thought to herself. She dismissed her thoughts.

She decided to go search the bathroom next but just as she was about to walk towards the bathroom when she noticed the light in her room was on. She headed toward her room. As she approached her bedroom door she gently placed a hand on the doorknob before she could turn it she heard what sounded like a muffled groan of pain.

'What on earth?' she thought to herself.

Taking a deep breath she turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. And she gasped in horror at the sight.

"Oh my gosh daddy!"

She ran to where her father lay. She kneeled down beside him. The brunette burst into tears as she placed a hand on his chest to feel for a pulse, there was one, for now.

Looking him over she tried to see where the wounds were. She looked at his head, she noted he had a gash on his head. As if someone hit him with a blunt object. Then she looked at his neck. His throat had been slashed from ear to ear, she just didn't know how deep the wound was but she knew it was life threatening. She glanced at his abdomen and chest. She couldn't

"Oh daddy who did this to you?" she asked as tapped the screen of her phone. She was about to enter her passcode to unlock her phone when she felt her dad's hand over hers.

"Sa..Sasha." he managed to utter.

"Ssh... try not to talk. I'm gonna call for help."

"No Sasha you need to listen to me."

"Daddy I need to get you help. I have-"

Her father cut her off. "You have to listen to me."

"But.."

"I'm not going to," he let out a groan, "make it to the hospital."

"Don't say that-"

"You have to get out of here you aren't safe."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I'm so sorry I never meant for this to happen."

Sasha sniffles as she brought her arm and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"You have to run and stay safe."

"You're delirious. I'm calling for help."

"I love you Sasha I'm sorry I didn't say It to you more often."

"I love you too dad." she sobbed. She placed her hand on her father's and used her free hand to unlock her phone and dial 911.

"Don't let them.. It was the.. Crimson Skull Clan.." were the last words he uttered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Eren looked at the auburn haired woman who sat in front of him. They were currently in the process of interrogating her. And by they, he meant Rico. She was in charge of the interrogations, and she had a reputation of being a hard ass. Sighing, the dark haired male crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on the wall. He closed his eyes and he let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. He opened his eyes when he heard Sasha let out a sob, followed by Rico's voice.

"Stop crying! And tell us why you did it!" the blonde asked.

"I told you! I didn't do it!"

In all honesty he felt bad for her. He could relate somewhat, having had his father die however he didn't have to witness him die in front of him. He wished Commander Smith would come in and tell her that the interrogation is over because it was only stressing out Sasha more than it needed to and it was going nowhere fast.

'She needs to stop trying to coax her into a false confession.'

Eren did believe her, he didn't think she she'd be capable of murder or any crime for that matter. Glancing over at Jean, he noticed he was clenching and unclenching his hand and his eyes were closed.

'Yep, he's about to snap.' Eren thought to himself.

"Rico," Eren started to speak but was immediately cut off.

"Do not interrupt me, Jaeger!"

"Look!" Jean exclaimed in anger silencing both of them, "Let's just stop now, clearly she's not going to talk and quite frankly I don't think she did it! Let's go and leave her alone for now."

Rico went to open her mouth but let out of frustrated huff. She walked to the door and opened it but turned her head to look at them, "Fine, we'll pick up where we left off later." and with that she walked out the room. Once the door slammed shut, Sasha let out a sigh of relief.

Sensing that she wanted to be alone, Eren shot a look at Jean.

"Let's go and and fill out the reports and see if there are any other leads."

"Yeah, let's go."

The two walked towards the door and opened it. When they walked out they heard her loose her composure and start crying.

Eren gave a sad smile.

'This is going to be one of the hardest cases yet, I can just tell.' he thought.

* * *

"So you boys think she's innocent?" a pair of blue eyes looked at them as he raised an eyebrow in question at them.

"Yes, sir. We do."

"What makes you two so sure?"

It was Jean who spoke next, "Commander Smith, if she indeed killed her father, she would have some sort of injury. Any person being murdered, no matter who it may be who is murdering them is going fight for their life. Unless they're asleep or shot dead in their sleep. And it's apparent that he did not because Sasha had no wounds to her. And there was no weapon found at the scene, but Hanji will be able to elaborate on any forensic evidence findings and results. And I was with her today during lunch time." Jean said but sensing what he was about to say he quickly added, "she wouldn't have had enough time."

Erwin nodded in understanding.

"We'll release her tonight but we'll bring her back for questioning in a few days. Start interviewing family and friends, I don't think she did it either, but this is part of the job and we can't stop until we clear whoever is innocent and get the person or persons responsible to pay."

Eren and Jean just nodded their responses.

"Oh and detective Jaeger,"

"Yes sir?"

"Armin is waiting for you by the reception area. You may go, you two earned a break."

"Thank you, commander."

* * *

"Braus?" Jean walked back into the interrogation room to tell Sasha she was free to go home that night.

"Hmm?" she looked up but then quickly wiped the tears off of her face before looking at him. "What's going on?" she asked.

"I'm just here to tell you that you're free to go today. But we'll be in contact with you during the following few weeks."

"Is that a nice way of saying I'm still a suspect and not to skip town?" she asked.

"Umm…." he said not sure what he could say to that.

"Never mind the question, I watch too many cop shows on t.v.."

Jean gave a chuckle. "I'm sure you do."

"So I can really go?"

"Well...yeah."

"Alright then," Sasha said as she rose from the chair, she pushed the chair in back in place. She started walking towards the door, but before she turned the knob, she turned her attention to the tall brown haired male, "I guess I'll be seeing you around. Bye." with that she turned the handle and stepped outside .

Jean raised an eyebrow at her retreating figure before muttering, "Bye" even though she couldn't hear him.

* * *

Standing outside the police station Sasha let out a breath. Looking up at the sky she noticed the stars.

"So where am I supposed to go now? I can't go back to my apartment tonight. It's still a crime scene." the auburn haired woman muttered to herself.

A cool breeze made her shiver And she yanked at her sweater sleeves to cover her hands.

She stood there staring off into space, something she always did when in deep thought, she didn't notice the two males that had stopped behind her.

"Hey." Sasha heard Eren say.

She turned around and saw that Eren and Armin, whom she had meet a few times weeks prior.

"Hey you two."

"I know it's a stupid question but are you ok?" Armin asked.

Sasha gave him a weak smile, "No it's not a stupid question. I'm ok, well as ok as I can be considering everything that's going on."

"You sure?" Eren quipped, then added, "because we were calling your name for a good minute and you just stood there."

"Were you? I didn't hear you, sorry."

"No need to apologize." the blonde male told her.

"So any reason you're just standing there?" Eren asked.

The two men walked next to her.

Sasha let out a sigh, "I'm just thinking about where I'm going to stay. I'm not allowed back at my apartment tonight." Sasha explained.

"Oh fuck, I forgot about that."

"Language Eren." Armin teased.

Sasha smiled at the two before speaking, "It's not like I have money laying around so I can't go to a hotel And motels are horrible."

"Do you have any friends living close by that won't mind your company for a day or two?" Armin asked.

Sasha bit her lip and thought. Then she remember about her best friend.

"Yes! I know someone. What time is it?"

The dark haired male looked at his watch, "Fifteen to nine."

'And he should be home now.' she thought.

"Does he live close by?" Eren asked.

"About twenty minutes by bus. Forty if I walk it."

"Alright then, let's go."

Sasha raised an eyebrow in question.

"Go where?" she asked.

"Come on, we're giving you a ride."

"Oh no that's alright-"

"We're not letting you walk it's too late and at this time the freaks start coming out. So we're taking you. Don't argue with us let's go."

"I...I mean. Seriously.." she babbled on but then sighed, "okay. Thank you."

"No problem."

"Are you good with directions? By any chance?" Eren asked.

"Um…."

* * *

Sasha waved goodbye to Eren and Armin as they drove off. Turning around she headed inside the building and walked to Connie's apartment, thankfully he lived on the first floor. The auburn haired girl knocked twice and waited.

Moments later she heard the lock being turned and the door was pulled open and Connie stepped outside.

"Sasha," the buzz cut man said, "what's up?"

"I need your help."

"Sure, how can I help?" he asked her without hesitation. There have been plenty of times where she'd helped him so he'd help her with whatever problem she was having.

"Do you mind if I stay here for tonight or maybe until tomorrow night?"

"Sure Sash, no problem. He opened the door wider to let her walk inside, "but what's going on?"

"It's a long story." she said as she walked inside.

"Well I got time, let's talk over dinner. I'll make you hot chocolate and then make some soup." He said as he closed the door.

* * *

Connie just sat in complete silence on the couch as he listened to Sasha tell him everything that was going on.

He honestly had no idea what to say to her. Sure he's dealt with death but it wasn't anyone from his immediate family and no one he was particularly close to. So he never experienced the emotions and thoughts she is experiencing enough to say anything.

Connie knew that her father was her only living family member. Her mother had died shortly after her birth and her father never remarried and as far as they knew he never fathered any more kids. Sure she had an aunt, her mother's sister, but she never kept in contact with her and she lived in Germany. So with her father gone she was alone.

He frowned, 'Why do bad things happen to good people?' he mused.

He gave a side glance at Sasha and noticed that she was looking at the floor.

So he did the only thing he could do, since he couldn't offer help with words, he slid down on the couch until he was next to her. He put his arm around her, she leaned in and before he could even blink she burst into tears. He just put his other arm around her and let her cry. It was all he could to help.

* * *

Hanji walked quickly down the halls of the police station. She was on her way to Erwin's office. She got the forensic results and report as well as another important piece of evidence they overlooked in their initial investigation of the crime scene.

''Damn it all! I just hope he didn't leave yet. Granted I'll see him at home but I can't discuss this, there." the brunette thought out loud.

Turning the corner, she noticed the lights were still on.

"Oh thank the heavens that man loves to work. A little too much but in this case it's good thing."

Getting to the door she knocked three times, something she only did so he knew it was her. She heard a muffled ''Come I'm, so she turned the doorknob and pushed in the door open.

Looking up from the countless am out of documents And reports on his desk, Hanji almost felt bad she was about to add something else.

'Almost.' she thought.

"Yes Hanji, what is it."

"I've got the reports on the murder of Mr. Braus."

"Wonderful let me have them."

She walked in front of his desk and handed him the envelope. She held another envelope but she kept it. She took a seat on the chair facing in front of him.

"So to what do I owe this honor?"

"What? Your girlfriend can just casually just visit her boyfriend at work?"

"You normally don't when it comes to anything work related, so what's going on?"

Hanji smiled, "You know me all to well, but yes there's something that I have to tell you."

He opened the envelope and started pulling the pages out.

"You see there's a new piece of evidence that was just brought to my attention a few hours ago."

Erwin looked up, blue eyes meeting brown ones.

"What is it Hanji."

"Something that would have helped us from the get-go," she handed him the other envelope, "it's a letter, claiming there's been a hit ordered on his daughter, Sasha." she told him.

Erwin closed his eyes and rubbed the side of his forehead.

"She's wanted by the Crimson Skull Clan, dead or alive."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

* * *

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure, I take my job seriously which is why I chewed out my team for not being so thorough with the collection of evidence. I mean it was right by her bed in plain sight how they missed it It's beyond me."

"This is going to get even more complicated, I can tell." Erwin sighed.

Hanji just sat in silence before rising from her seat, "I'm gonna go finish up my reports and then head home."

"I'll be home late today." he teased.

The brunette let out a laugh, "I know. I'll leave your dinner in the microwave."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

* * *

The next morning, Sasha sat on the couch drinking a cup of coffee watching in fascination as Connie ran about getting ready for work. She managed a small smile as she took another sip then accidentally let out a yawn which caught the attention of her friend.

"I'm really sorry about leaving you alone."

"I already told you Con, it's ok. You have to work."

"Yeah but still…" he trailed off.

"I'll be fine Connie."

"You sure? Because I could always-"

The auburn haired woman cut him off. "Connie, go to work. I'll be fine. I don't have anyplace I have to be today, so I'll be here."

Nodding he walked to the kitchen and picked his sweater off of the chair he usually puts it on, and put it on.

"Okay, help yourself to whatever you find in the fridge and whatnot. Take out menus are on the table in front of you and I'll bring Chinese food home."

"Sounds good," Sasha said. "See you later." she said as she watched him walk to the front door. She heard him yell out, "Later Sasha!" and them the front door open and then close.

Yawning, she placed the coffee cup on the table and leaned back onto the comfortable couch.

'Maybe I should catch up on sleep.' she thought as she closed her eyes.

* * *

"Hey Armin," Eren said as he put on his uniform jacket on, "can I tell you something?"

The blonde male frowned having notice the tone of voice Eren was speaking in. Sensing it was serious he nodded his head for him to continue.

"I just want to set this straight now so you know what do if the situation ever arose."

"Okay what's going on-"

"I want you to know that if something happens to me and I were to die. I'm leaving you all my assets."

"But why on earth would you-"

"Armin, we've been together for four years. Its pretty much obvious I'm not going anywhere. And I hope you aren't going anywhere-you aren't going to leave right?" He asked.

The blonde fought the urge to face palm, leave it to Eren to ruin a meaningful conversation. Then again, Eren never was very good at handling that was overly emotional.

'Even though he's the most overly emotional person there is in the world.' he thought.

"Wait, but why are you leaving me with all your assets? Aren't you going to leave anything for Mikasa?"

The ebony haired male let out a snort, "Armin, Mikasa is a big girl she can handle herself. Besides back when we were in high school she said she wouldn't take anything I left behind And that she'd make sure it'd go to anyone I married and or my future children. I will be leaving her my mother's wedding ring." he explained, "besides she's making money and she's married Levi, so she's not exactly hurting for money. Especially what I would be leaving behind."

Armin frowned a bit but let Eren finish talking.

"Look I'm not saying that you need me financially and I know you're more than capable of taking care of yourself, I just want to make sure you're taken care of."

Armin sighed but managed a smile, "Alright."

"Good, I'll have Mikasa stop by to have us sign the papers."

"Wait a minute you had your will written already?"

"Yes, I wanted to have everything ready sooner than later."

"So what made you want to do this all the sudden?"

"What?" Eren blinked, "I can be responsible."

Armin quirked and eyebrow something he only did when he was feeling slightly playful but he didn't say anything to let Eren continue speaking.

"Okay if I'm going to be a hundred percent honest, a little after working on the case that I'm working on," he began to answer Armin's question.

"Sasha's father's case?"

"Yeah," he said, "I realized life's to short any anything can happen to any of us at any given time. And I felt the need to be prepared in case it did happen. It's a scary thought but that's life."

"I understand." Armin said honestly he couldn't be mad he was only speaking the truth, albeit a scary one. Walking up to Eren he placed a quick kiss to his cheek.

"I love you."

"I love you too." Eren said.

"Now finish getting ready, you're ten minutes behind schedule."

"Fuck!" and with that Eren ran to the living room to get the rest of his things and finish getting ready.

* * *

Jean walked down the halls of the present as he held back a yawn. He hadn't slept well the night before and he was exhausted.

'I need coffee.' he thought.

As he made his way to Erwin's office to be briefed and to see if there were any new leads on the case, a cheerful voice broke through his train of thought.

"Morning Jean!"

The ash brown haired male cringed at the voice, only because he wasn't prepared to hear it.

'How the hell is he so cheerful in the mornings? He cannot not human. No way anyone can be that cheerful especially since it's only 6 am.' he thought.

"Morning Marco." he greeted back then he looked at the other male standing next to Marco and greeted him as well, "Morning Samuel."

"Morning." was his short reply.

"You're still tired huh?" the freckled male asked.

"Yeah."

"How's the case going?" Samuel asked.

"Not great. I can't really say much about it, but I can say it's at a stand still, at least for now."

"I'm sure you guys will get some momentum going soon don't worry. You and Eren are a great team."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Marco," he said and then he frowned, "speaking of Eren has anybody seen him? He's usually here before me." Jean asked.

"No haven't seen him." the two men replied at the same time, something that both of them did often, leading people to call then the wonder twins.

"Well he better get here soon." a voice behind him said, all three turned their attention to the voice.

"Morning Petra."

"Morning boys." the ginger haired woman greeted.

"So why does Eren need to be here soon?"

"Erwin wants to talk to you both as soon as you get in. Something of great importance. And you know he hates to be kept waiting." she told him. Walking past them she turned around, "See you later boys." and with that she walked away.

"Bye Petra." they said.

"Well we better get back to work." Samuel told Marco.

Nodding his response he looked at Jean, "I would just go see him now and if Eren still hasn't shown up call him up. Or reverse the order."

"Good idea, see you later guys."

"Bye Jean." and with that they went their separate ways.

* * *

On his way to Erwin's office Jean frowned, "Stupid Eren, of all the days to be late, it had to be today.'

Knocking on the door, Jean waited. A few seconds later he heard a muffled come in.

He turned the doorknob and walked inside.

"Good morning sir."

Blue eyes looked up and stared at him.

"Good morning, Kirstein." he greeted and then added, "Where's Jaeger?"

"He isn't here yet."

Frowning momentary, the blonde man exhaled but decided to go on ahead with the briefing.

"Very well, I'm going to go ahead and brief you I trust you'll relay the message."

"Of course."

Erwin got up from his seat and walked toward the window. "There's a new piece of evidence that has just surfaced."

"That's great news."

"It's great news yes, but there's a downside."

"What is it?"

"We're dealing with the Crimson Skull Clan."

"Wait, you mean the CSC?" he asked emphasizing the word the.

"The very one."

"Well that complicates everything."

"Precisely, which is why we're bringing in two of our top undercover officers. But I'm afraid that's not all."

"More great news?" he asked sarcastically.

Ignoring the sarcastic reply, he walked back to his desk, "They're after Miss Braus."

"Why on earth would they…"

Erwin cut him off. "There was a note at the crime scene stating they were the one's responsible and that they want Sasha, dead or alive."

The ash brown haired male blinked but said nothing.

'Fuck.' was his only thought.

"When Jaeger gets in, brief him and then two of you go get Sasha, I need to ask her more questions. Dismissed."

"Yes sir." he said and he turned heel and walked out if the door. Walking toward his office, he pulled out his cell phone, he dialed the familiar number and waited for Eren to pick up.

After a few rings a familiar voice picked up.

"Hey."

"Where the fuck are you?!"

"Jean what the hell, I'm on my way now, I'm like 5 minutes away." Eren told him.

"Well Erwin just briefed me and we have an assignment. So hurry the hell up. "

"What's going-"

"I'll tell you later." and without waiting for an answer he hung up his phone.

* * *

"Hello, I'd like to place an order please." Sasha spoke into her cell phone.

"Sure what can we get you?" a friendly voice asked over the phone.

"Can I get a hamburger, with mustard, light mayonnaise, light ketchup, no onion, extra lettuce and pickles and tomatoes."

"Got it, would you like anything else?"

"Um, curly fries and a vanilla milkshake."

"Okay, I placed your order. It'll be ready between 45 minutes and an hour." Glancing at the clock on the cable box she noted the time was 11:30.

"Ok thanks a bunch." the auburn hair said as she hung up her phone.

Walking into the kitchen she walked over to the cabinet where Connie kept his cups and pulled one out. Then she walked over to the refrigerator and pulled it open glancing it over she pulled out a juice bottle and closed the door. Walking back to the counter, she uncapped the juice bottle and poured some out into the cup. Putting the cap back on she put the bottle aside and picked up the cup and took a sip.

'I can't wait until my burger gets here, I'm sooo hungry.' she thought.

Downing the rest of the juice, she put the cup in the sink and grabbed up the juice container and put it back in the refrigerator.

* * *

"Hey boss. It's me, I've got good news."

"Did you find her?" the voice on the end of the other line asked.

"Yes I did."

"Very good. Have you had enough time to stake her out?"

"It appears she's staying with a friend. But she hasn't left the apartment boss. I can see her from the car."

"Excellent. Keep an eye out for her. And don't lose track of her do you understand?"

"Understood."

"Good. Call back in three hours if she's still alone we'll make a move."

Before he could reply there was a click on the other end followed by the dial tone. The man but his phone down and took at his binoculars.

* * *

The doorbell rang and Sasha got up from the couch, and practically ran to the door. She stopped in front of the door, and checked her pockets to make sure there was money in one of them. There was, so with that she opened the door and smiled at the man at the other side.

The man holding the food smiled back before handing her the milkshake first before looking at the ticket.

"Hamburger, curly fries and a vanilla milkshake?"

"Yes. How much is it?"

"It's $12.95."

"Okay." Sasha pulled the money out of her back pocket noting it was a twenty dollar bill she handed him the bill and he gave her the bag of food. As he reached in his pockets for her change, she shook her head and put her hands up.

"There's no need to look for change you can keep it."

"But it's too much of a tip."

"No worries."

"Thank you very much." the young man thanked her with a smile.

"You're welcome. Have a good day." Sasha said.

"You as well."

When he turned around to walk away, the auburn haired woman closed and locked the door.

Looking at her bag she managed to smile.

"It smells so good!" she said to herself as she went to sit in the dining room to enjoy her lunch.

* * *

Sasha was dozing in and out of sleep as she watched t.v. Glancing at the clock, she noticed it was almost 2 in the afternoon. She gave a yawn and closed her eyes. Just as she was beginning to get comfortable there was a loud knock on the door. Her eyes fluttered opened and she pursed her lips, 'Who could that be?' She thought. Getting up from her spot on the sofa, she quietly tip toed her way to the door. She placed her hands on the door to steady herself and she stood on her toes to look through the peephole.

She noticed instantly who It was so she placed her feet back on the floor and opened the door just as Jean was about to knock again.

"Detectives, what brings you here?" she asked the two men.

"You need to come down to the station now." Jean explained.

"Now? But why?"

"Something came up regarding your father's murder case," Eren explained, "it's important."

"Okay let me just get my sweater and sneakers."

They nodded and she ran back inside and bent down to pick up her sneakers and sat on the floor to put them on. Once they were on, she walked to the kitchen where he sweater hung from one of the dining chairs. She tied it around her waist and headed back toward the front door.

"I'm ready."

"Alright let's go." The ebony haired man said. Sasha reached in and locked the door from the inside and closed the door of the apartment and followed the two of them outside.

* * *

Sasha walked into the interrogation room and took a seat. She glanced around the room wondering why she was called in again. She knew that she'd eventually be called back again just not as fast.

"What's going on?" the auburn haired girl asked once she snapped out of her thoughts.

"Do you know the Crimson Skull Clan?" Erwin wasted no time in getting right to it.

"Not personally."

"Do you know anything about them?"

"Not really, just what I've seen on the news and read in newspapers."

"Well then this makes it all more complicated."

"Why are you asking me these questions? You don't think I'm involved with the gang?"

"No we don't think you're part of a gang Sasha." Eren spoke up.

"Then what's going on? Can someone please tell me." Sasha pleaded.

"The Crimson Skull Clan is after you Sasha. We don't know why, all we know is that their was a letter at the crime scene basically of them taking full responsibility for your father's murder, as well as taunting police that they'd never be caught," Erwin explained he looked at her, "they're after you. They want you dead or alive."

Sasha's eyes widened as the realization of the situation hit her. Her heart raced as her mind worked in overdrive trying to piece together reasons why This could be happening.

"So this case just got elevated to a whole new level." Erwin told the auburn haired girl, once again snapping her out of her thoughts, "Are you certain you really had no idea why the Crimson Skull Clan would be after you?"

Shaking her head, she replied, "I honestly have no idea Commander." honestly she was tired of answering that question but she couldn't be upset with him, he was only doing his job.

"Well then we have no choice," he said his attention on the two men standing on either side of Sasha, "we're gonna have to protect her. Her life is in danger."

Sasha let out a whimper, upon being reminded of her currently predicament.

She just couldn't catch a break. She couldn't even grieve her father's death because now her own life was in danger.

"We're gonna have to place her in protective custody. Either that or we're going to have to guard her 24/7."

"So who do you have in mind for the job sir?" Jean asked.

"I'm gonna assign Lieutenants Ral and Ackerman."

"Only those two?" Eren asked. "I know they're both exceptional but it's a twenty four hour round the clock job I don't think they could do it all themselves."

"Ackerman doesn't sleep."

"But Lieutenant Ral does." Jean countered.

"Which is why I'm also assigning you two to the case as well. Miss Braus would probably feel more comfortable having familiar faces around as well instead of complete strangers."

"You're assigning us to the case sir?"

"Did I stutter"

"No sir."

"Good. Get Ral and Ackerman here so we can brief them. You all start now."

Jean and Eren nodded.

"Understood." they both replied.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Notes** : Here's the next chapter! Anyway I will let you read the chapter now and save the rest of this note for the end.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

* * *

Jean and Eren walked back to Erwin's office with Petra and Levi. They stopped in front of the office door and Eren knocked.

"Come in."

Eren turned the doorknob and pushed the door open wide enough for the other three to walk in before walking in himself and closing the door behind him.

"You called for us, sir?" Petra asked.

"Yes I did," he paused, "There's a case that needs your expertise and it's going to be a rather extensive case. Now before I brief you two on all you need to know, I need to know if you're up to take on this case?"

"Yes sir, I am." the brunette said. Erwin nodded at her reply and then turned his attention to Levi, piercing blue eyes meet steel blue ones for several seconds before Levi let out a sigh but nodded, "What's the case?" he asked.

* * *

"Are we clear?" Erwin asked all four officers in the room.

"Yes sir!" Eren as well as Petra and Jean answered. Levi replied with a nod.

Nodding at everyone Erwin then turned his attention to Sasha. "Don't worry Miss Braus, we are going to do everything in our power to not only protect you but make sure we get whoever is responsible for your father's death. You can count on that."

The honey eyed woman could only nod in reply.

"Very well then, you are all dismissed."

Everyone in the room nodded and walked out of the office.

* * *

Sasha contemplated what she would do next as she stood outside of the police station. She wasn't sure what she would do next. All she knew was that she couldn't go back to Connie's apartment to stay, especially if the notorious underground crime gang was after her. She also couldn't go back to her house because it was still technically a crime scene. 'So where am I going to stay?' the brunette thought to herself. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned her head to see who it was.

"Hey," Eren said his hand still on her shoulder, "you're going to be fine."

Sasha sighed. "I want to believe that to be true however it's hard to do so considering all that's happening."

"So," Levi's voice broke the tension, "do you have any place to go? So we can go and make sure it's safe?"

Eren moved his hand from her shoulder and they both turned their attention to Levi.

"No." was her reply.

"Where were you staying when we went to pick you up?" Jean asked.

"With my best friend." Sasha answered back.

"And you don't want to go back?"

The brunette shook her head. "No, I don't want to risk him getting involved. This isn't his problem and I'm not about to go and make it his problem."

The five of them stood in silence. A few moments later Eren's eyes lit up as he had an idea. It was a bit of a stretch and it may take some convincing but he knew it was the best move they can make at the moment.

"I know a place you can stay!"

Four sets of eyes all looked at him quizzically.

Levi raised his eyebrow, "And where would that be?"

Eren gave him a smirk, "Follow me."

No one moved. Eren sighed, "Can you all just trust me on this?"

Jean shrugged. "Eh, why not? What do we have to lose?"

Eren nodded, "Let's go."

* * *

"Are you sure this is okay with you? I don't want to impose on you and Armin." the young woman asked. She honestly felt bad for having to impose on them.

"Sasha! You're being hunted down by one of the most vile gangs out there, it's no problem at all." Eren told her before adding, "We're suppose to be guarding you. Besides we are looking into finding you a safer place to stay. Until then, Jean and myself along with Armin who said it's okay, have volunteered our apartments."

"I'm sorry." Sasha muttered.

"Sasha, stop apologizing! None of this is your fault! You're not a bother. And besides I'd like some company on the days I'm not at work." Armin said giving her a smile.

"Thank you Armin." she said with a smile. While she felt bad for putting them in this situation, she was relieved she had at least a temporary place to stay. She just hoped she wasn't putting anyone in any unnecessary danger.

"Well," Eren said getting both of their attention, "I'm going to go back to the station. So I'll see you later." He gave them both a side smile and added, "As for now just know that cranky old Levi is the one on lookout now, so just know you're in good hands."

"You need to learn when to shut your mouth asshole."

Rolling his eyes at his remark, Eren waved them all goodbye. The three watched him take his leave. Once the door closed, Armin walked to it and locked it.

"I'm going to go make coffee and tea. Would you like anything else?" the blonde asked.

"No, the coffee would do." the older male answered.

"Um.. Coffee would be fine. Thank you."

Armin nodded and headed off to the kitchen.

The auburn haired girl sighed and plopped on the couch. She sat in silence as she thought about why all of this was happening.

"Braus, I don't want to do this here, but I would assume from your first interrogation session that you aren't keen on going back there."

The brunette nodded in agreement. In no way did she ever want to be interrogated ever again.

"So I'm going to ask you two questions."

In that moment, Armin walked in with a tray with 3 mugs. Setting it on the table, the blonde handed Levi his coffee and the Sasha hers.

"Thank you Armin." the brunette said.

Smiling he replied, "You're welcome." taking his mug and sitting on the empty spot beside her.

Sasha smiled at the blonde before turning her attention back to Levi. "So what were the questions that you want to ask?"

"Do you know why your father was even involved with this gang?"

"No, he never mentioned anything to me about anything going on with his personal life. I know nothing about my father's past come to think of it, he was a rather private man."

"Hmm.." he mumbled taking a sip of his coffee. "This makes things more complicated."

"What was your other question, sir?"

"Do you want to read the note that was left in your bedroom the night your father died?"

Sasha's breath caught in her throat. 'They left a note? Why hasn't anyone told me anything?'

"The note was taken as evidence and dusted for fingerprints. And to be quite frank, the note is a bit… well vulgar. "

"I want to read it!" Sasha said without hesitation.

Nodding in response he took another sip of his coffee before adding, "Very well. We will give you the letter tomorrow."

* * *

**Preview**

* * *

Sasha's eyes widened in horror as she read over the letter over. She felt her eyes gloss over as tears threatened to spill over. What could her father had possibly had to do with these… monsters. They couldn't be considered people they were just plain monsters. Regaining her composure she looked up at Jean.

"Did you guys ever find out the reason my dad had anything to do with them?"

He shook his head, "Not yet." he began, "don't say a word I'm not supposed to be mentioning any of the information regarding the investigation but I'm going to tell you. We are calling in undercover officers to the case."

"But couldn't that take some time?"

"To be honest it will."

Taking a breath she thought. She knew that the longer this took, the more people got involved. The more danger she would put those she cared about at risk. The worse the repercussions would be not only for her but everyone involved. And she couldn't let that happen, even though she just read what would they would do to her.

"Jean," she said getting up from the chair, "I want to help. I just can't sit back and do nothing."

"Wh..h..what?" he sputtered. 'Was she crazy?' he thought. Looking into her eyes he saw unwavering determination and he knew that she was serious and doubted that he could change her mind.

Running a hand through his hair he took a deep breath, "I will see if I can talk to them and see if they even would consider it. But don't get your hopes up."

"Thank you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am seriously not giving up on this story or my other story. And once again I truly am sorry for the way overdue chapter. Life got in the way as did writers block.  This chapter was kind of a filler, things start to pick up in the next chapter. The next one is a doozy and it's longer than this one seeing as I am still working on it so it may be a little while before that's posted but there won't be a ridiculously long wait. Hope you liked this chapter and the little preview for the next chapter. And I apologize for any errors and mistakes you find, this has not been beta'd. But I will see you all in the next one! Bye!


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Notes** : Here is the next chapter. I'll just say what I was going to at the end. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 5**

* * *

"What do you mean she's gone?!" a voice yelled.

"She's gone boss. She isn't at the last known address we saw her at." He walked over to his underling and grabbed him by the neck.

"And," the gang leader hissed in anger, "how did exactly did she manage to slip away from our watch, huh? Did you fuck up? Did you maybe...I don't know...let your guard down?!"

The man was breathing hard as he felt the grip on his neck tightened, which was not a good sign.

"Sir! I have some information on her whereabouts." a voice called out. The gang leader smirked and looked at the man in his grip and muttered, "you're lucky," before letting him go. Walking over to his right hand man, he patted his back. "Good job, what information do you got? Hopefully it's good so we can just grab the bitch and be done with this."

"Not exactly boss."

"Why not?"

"She's under police protection at the moment."

The gang leader let out a groan as he ran a hand through his hair, "Well damn this fucking complicates everything."

"What do we do now?"

Sighing he looked at his lackey, "Well then we move on to plan B."

"Won't plan B be kind of hard to execute considering she's under police protection?"

"Perhaps, we just need to be creative." he explained. He dug around in his pocket for a minute before dragging out a cigarette and lighter, he lit it and took a long drag before adding, "And I have an idea."

* * *

"And lastly sign here."

Eren signed on the line and handed the pen back to its owner. "That's it? It's done?"

The raven haired woman nodded, "Yes we're done with everything. I just have to make a copy, which I'll keep in my lock box at home in case of an emergency." Mikasa said, packing up her stuff. "You can pick up your will later today just stop by my office anytime to pick or I can stop by on my day off and drop it off, just let me know."

"I will."

"And store it in a safe place once you do pick it up."

Eren nodded, "Thanks Mikasa."

Grabbing her briefcase she gave him a small smile before walking over to him.

"Don't mention it. Take care of yourself."

"I always do." he retorted.

"You haven't been sleeping well as of late."

"How did you...Huh?"

"You have bags under your eyes Eren. You almost fell asleep as I was going over everything with you and I know because Levi is working on the case as well." she said placing a hand on his shoulder, "take care of yourself. This is your day off so make use of it. You are no good to anybody if you aren't 100 percent."

Eren gave her a smile but nodded.

"I'll see you soon."

"See you later."

Eren watched her walk out of the living room. He waited until he heard the door close before getting up to put the lock on.

Heading back toward the living room he plopped onto the sofa. Settling in to take a quick nap before Armin came home from work.

'I hope Sasha's okay with Jean.' he chuckled shaking his head, 'His people skills are terrible, poor Sasha.'

* * *

"Its quitting time. Let's go." Levi told Jean as he passed by his office. "Commander Smith mentioned to me that you looked like you need your rest, which is true, you look like shit. So he's letting you off earlier today."

The ashen haired man let out a snort. "Thanks I feel like shit too."

"By the way I hope you didn't forget that Miss Braus is waiting for you in the waiting area."

His eyes widened. "What?!"

The shorter man sighed, "Remember she's staying with you this week. She'll be back with Jaeger next week. We found her an apartment. We are just taking proper measures and the necessary precautions before moving her in, which will take another week."

Taking a breath Jean nodded. "I totally forgot."

"I can always take her back to Jaeger-"

"No, it's fine. It just completely slipped my mind."

Levi turned to walk out but paused, "And while you're on your way to clock out pick up an envelope, it's in Hanji's office. And give it to Braus. It has the letter that they left after they killed her father."

"Is that such a good-" he was cut off.

"She said she wanted to read it." with that Levi walked out.

Sighing Jean ran a hand through his hair.

'I'm getting a headache.'

* * *

On his way to Hanji's office, be noticed Marco walking toward his office.

"Hey Marco."

The freckled male turned to face his friend. "Hey Jean, how have you been? Haven't seen you around much."

"Just been busy and tired." rubbing his temples he noticed the time. "You working the late shift today or are you almost done for the day?"

Marco laughed, "I wish I was going home. My shift just started."

"Man the late shift sucks."

"Don't I know it."

"By the way how's Samuel doing?"

"He's good recovering in the hospital. I think he gets out Saturday."

"That's good news." Jean then patted his friend on his back, "I'll catch you later."

"Later Jean."

The ashen haired man sighed, 'let me just get the envelope so I can go the fuck home.'

* * *

Sasha sat on the bench in the waiting area, staring at the ceiling fan. 'I must look like an idiot just sitting here looking up at a fan,' sighing she closed her eyes.

 _ **Beep**_.

Her eyes snapped open, recognizing her phone's text message tone. Pulling her cell out of her purse, she unlocked it.

**Connie 6:04 PM**

- _Sash, what happened? Where are you?_

The brunette tapped on reply and began typed back.

- _Its complicated Con. But I will tell you everything that's been going on soon. I promise._

She hit send. Minutes later she heard her phone beep.

**Connie 6:10 PM**

- _Alright. I'm gonna hold you to that. Have a good night and be careful._

- _Good night and I will._

She typed back and hit send once again.

"Hey Braus," she heard a voice call out. Glancing up at the voice she noticed Jean. Taking note on how exhausted he looked she bit her lip. He looked like he just wanted to go home and sleep not tote her around like a child on a school trip. Her honey eyes looked into amber ones.

"Maybe I should book a hotel for a night or two you look-"

"What are you muttering about?"

"Sorry I… umm.." Her hands went to the back of her neck, "What I mean is you look tired and I don't really want to bother you and so I-" she trailed off.

Jean raised an eyebrow. "Don't be stupid, I told you I was going to take this week."

The brunette let out a frustrated sigh and frowned. "I'm not stupid."

"I know you aren't, I didn't mean that."

Sasha titled her head. "Okay. You have bad people skills, you know that right?"

Jean narrowed his eyes, "Come on, let's go."

* * *

"Make yourself at home." The ashen haired man told her as he pushed open the door to his apartment. Switching the entryway light on he waited until she walked in before closing the door behind her. Placing his keys and the envelope on the end table he watched as Sasha walked into the dining room. The brunette shot him a look before asking, "May I sit?"

Nodding in reply, she pulled one of the chairs out and sat down. Jean pulled off his police jacket and placed it behind one of the dining room chairs. Walking over to the fridge he called out, "Do you want something to drink?"

"No I'm okay."

Grabbing a bottle of soda he closed the fridge and walked back to where Sasha was seated placed the soda bottle on the table and walked back over to the end table to retrieve the envelope. Walking back he put the envelope on the table then pulled out a chair taking the seat across from her.

They both sat in comfortable silence, Sasha's eyes fixed on a spot on the table occasionally glancing at the yellow envelope and Jean taking sips of his soda every couple minutes.

"So..uh.."

Sasha looked up at him.

"Are you going to read the letter?"

Pressing her lips together she nodded. "Yes." she whispered reaching over to open the envelope.

* * *

A man walked into the SkyView Diner and walked over to the woman who was currently ringing up a customer. He waited patiently as the transaction was taking place.

"Here's your change," with a smile she handed the customer the money, "Thank you and come again." the blonde smiled at the customer. "Have a good day." She added. The elderly lady smiled back, "You too dear."

The man watched as the woman walked out and then looked around to make sure there was no one around, luckily there were only two tables full and they looked like they weren't leaving anytime soon. "Hi." he said as he approached her.

"Hello, how can I help you?"

He looked at her shirt and noticed her name on the name tag. "Um.. Krista is your name I'm assuming. That's the name on your name tag."

The petite blonde's heart skipped a beat. Something about this didn't sit well with her.

'That's a weird way to start a conversation.' she mused. But she continued on with the conversation. "Yes my name is Krista. Now how can I help you sir."

"Ah yes, I just wanted to know if someone by the name of Sasha Braus works here?"

The blonde pressed her lips together and raised her eyebrow questionably. "Is there any reason in particular for asking?"

"Oh sorry, I'm Detective Russo and I just got her case so it's urgent that I find her so that I may talk to her."

Krista gave him a hard look. She didn't trust him, and she wouldn't put her friend in harm's way but she didn't want to lie to him in the case he was telling the truth. So she quickly thought of something that would hopefully answer his question without jeopardizing her friend. "Well she does work here but she hasn't been at work this week."

"Do you know when she'll be back?"

"No idea. She may quit. Honestly she hasn't been by nor has she called," the blonde answered, "you can leave a message with me and in the case she does happen to stop by I can relay the message." the blonde offered.

The dark haired male huffed a breath in frustration and ran a hand through his hair, which didn't go unnoticed by Krista. He was silently debating whether or not to leave any information behind. Deciding against it, he gave her a force smile. "That's okay. I'll just come back sometime in next week. Thanks for your help."

"Yeah no problem. Have a nice day." Krista watched him exit the diner and let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. 'I have got to tell Sasha what just happened.

* * *

Sasha's eyes widened in horror as she read over the letter over. She felt her eyes gloss over as tears threatened to spill over. What could her father had possibly had to do with these… monsters. They couldn't be considered people they were just plain monsters. Regaining her composure she looked up at Jean.

"Did you guys ever find out the reason my dad had anything to do with them?"

He shook his head, "Not yet." he began, "don't say a word I'm not supposed to be mentioning any of the information regarding the investigation but I'm going to tell you. We are calling in undercover officers to the case."

"But couldn't that take some time?"

"To be honest it will."

Taking a breath she thought. She knew that the longer this took, the more people got involved. The more danger she would put those she cared about at risk. The worse the repercussions would be not only for her but everyone involved. And she couldn't let that happen, even though she just read what would they would do to her.

"Jean," she said getting up from the chair, "I want to help. I just can't sit back and do nothing."

"Wh..h..what?" he sputtered. 'Was she crazy?' he thought. Looking into her eyes he saw unwavering determination and he knew that she was serious and doubted that he could change her mind.

Running a hand through his hair he took a deep breath, "I will see if I can talk to them and see if they even would consider it. But don't get your hopes up."

"Thank you."

He looked over in her direction and gave her a nod. Several moments of silence passed before it was broken by a grumbling noise.

Jean raised his eyebrow. "Was that your stomach?"

Letting a groan of embarrassment, she placed her face in her hands and nodded.

The ashen haired man shook his head, " Come on let's go."

"Go where?" came a muffled reply.

"Let's go grab something to eat."

Sasha moved her hands from her face to look at him biting her lip she nodded. "That sounds good."

* * *

"One double cheeseburger with an order of fries. And a turkey club with a side of mozzarella sticks. Can I get you two anything else?"

"Nah I'm good." Jean told her and he looked over at Sasha, "You want anything else?"

"No I'm fine as well. Thank you."

Nodding the waitress smiled, "Enjoy."

"So do you have any plans tomorrow?"

"I have two classes at 9 in the morning and at 12. Then I have to come back here for my shift. I got the closing shift. So I'll be out all day. You?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea, its my day off." Jean took a fry off of his plate and took a bite. He watched Sasha who seemed to space out after answering his question. He looked over her face, her eyes which were usually bright wide and full of life looked sad, filled with uncertainty and dread. He frowned, 'No one should have to go through this.' He thought as his eyes trailed down to her lips.

'She has nice lips.' his eyes widened in realization of what he just thought. 'Okay now isn't the time to be thinking those type of thoughts and where on earth did that thought even come from? I really must be tired.'

Luckily for him she didn't seem to notice his ogling, still lost in her own world.

"Hey." he whispered. Sasha's eyes meet his. "Eat before it gets cold."

"Oh...sorry." She grabbed a mozzarella stick and took a bite. The two ate in comfortable silence until the brunette felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning her head back she saw Krista standing there.

"Hey Krista," she greeted then she noticed the look of worry on her face, "Whats wrong?"

"I have to tell you something."

Noting the seriousness in her friend's tone she nodded and asked her, "Did you want to talk here or in private?"

"Can you come to the break room?" Krista asked.

Nodding Sasha got up from her seat. "I'll be right back." she told Jean and with that she followed the blonde to the back.

* * *

**Preview**

* * *

"Sasha, some man came by earlier looking for you." the blonde said in a hushed tone once they were in the breakroom

The brunette's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. 'Who on earth would look for me at work?'

"So the guy told me" Krista continued,"that he was a detective and that he was just assigned to your case, said his name was Detective Russo."

"That's not possible. I know the detectives that are on the case and there's no Detective Russo assigned to it." Sasha explained.

"He gave me a weird vibe and I didn't trust him. He just seemed hellbent on finding you."

"Did you tell him-?" Sasha was cut off.

"Of course not, the only thing I told him was I had no idea when or if you were coming back to work. The man didn't leave a note or card. Honestly he didn't even want me to relay what I'm telling you now. I figured I'd tell you all of this personally."

Sasha smiled at her friend who returned her smile.

I didn't want to tell you this in front of your dinner date."

"Thanks Krista."

"Of course, you know I've got your back."

The brunette hugged the blonde, "And he's not my dinner date."

"I know, I'm just teasing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: And that's that. This chapter was initially longer but I had to cut the chapter in half and rearrange some scenes so that it didn't feel rushed and it flowed a bit better. But the story will start to pick up now.
> 
> Oh and if anyone wants to know, Jean and Sasha have known each other give or take a year here, in case I forget to mention it.
> 
> Hopefully you all liked this chapter. The next chapter has been started but I can't say how long it will take until it's out because I am also working on the next two chapters of my other story to keep my momentum going. I also want to edit this chapter as well with the last one, to clean them up as best as I can sometime this week. This chapter has not been beta read so there will be mistakes, feel free to point those out to me.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6**

 

"Sasha, some man came by earlier looking for you." the blonde said in a hushed tone once they were in the breakroom   
  
The brunette's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. 'Who on earth would look for me at work?'   
  
"So the guy told me" Krista continued,"that he was a detective and that he was just assigned to your case, said his name was Detective Russo."   
  
"That's not possible. I know the detectives that are on the case and there's no Detective Russo assigned to it." Sasha explained.   
  
"He gave me a weird vibe and I didn't trust him. He just seemed hellbent on finding you."   
  
"Did you tell him-?" Sasha was cut off.   
  
"Of course not, the only thing I told him was I had no idea when or if you were coming back to work. The man didn't leave a note or card. Honestly he didn't even want me to relay what I'm telling you now. I figured I'd tell you all of this personally."   
  
Sasha smiled at her friend who returned her smile.   
  
I didn't want to tell you this in front of your dinner date."   
  
"Thanks Krista."   
  
"Of course, you know I've got your back."   
  
The brunette hugged the blonde, "And he's not my dinner date." she added.   
  
"I know, I'm just teasing,” she said with a smile, “But he's kind of cute and he looks like he like he's your type.” she teased.

Sasha rolled her eyes, “Um...no he's not..I mean he is cute.. I mean… he's not my type. He's not a people person.. But..” She stuttered, face a bright shade of red, “I'm going to stop taking now.”

The blonde chuckled at her friend. “I'll see you tomorrow, but I think you should take a bit more time off, for safety reasons. Hitch could always pick up some of your hours as well as Thomas, Nanaba will understand.”

Sasha sighed sadly, “I would if I could but I need to work. I need to pay for this  semester and besides I need to work, it's a welcomed distraction during the day.”

Knowing her friend was stubborn and wouldn't listen so there's no point in arguing with her. “Just be careful alright?”

“I will!”

* * *

 

It was a quarter to midnight when the two walked inside Jean's apartment. Sasha walked to the living room area and took a seat on the loveseat. And once he locked the door he followed behind her, phone in ear relaying to Eren what Sasha told him on the way home from the diner.

“Eren.” Jean told him before adding, “I can come in tomorrow if you need me too.”

“No it's your day off, just be ready in case you are called in. I'll inform Erwin in the morning.”

“Alright then.” although he knew nine times out of ten he was going to be called in.

“Good night.” Eren said.

“Night.” Jean replied, moving the phone away from his ear, he pressed the end call button and put his cell phone in his pocket. Sighing he sat on his couch and looked over at Sasha, who was twiddling her thumbs. ‘Must be a nervous wreck.’

“I spoke to Eren he's going to inform the rest of the team in the morning.”

The brunette nodded.

“We're also going to keep an eye out for your friend.”

That caught Sasha's attention she snapped her head up to look at him, “Why?”

“Well if this guy is set in locating your whereabouts, more than likely he is on the side of the Crimson Skulls that is assuming he isn't a member himself. Granted, he more than likely gave your friend a bogus name but she knows what he looks like and he knows what she looks likes as well as her name. So we need to keep an eye on her, they are bound to try to harm her if they figured out she snitched.”

Sasha bit her lip. She didn't know that her friend looking out for her would jeopardize her own safety.

“You're both going to be fine.” he assured her even though there was no real way to tell if she, her friend or either of them would be okay but he wasn't going to tell her that, that's the last thing she needed to hear at the moment.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Well someone has to hold out hope in this situation besides you seem like the type of person who fights until they can't fight anymore. So keep doing that.”

“Thank you for your optimism.”

“Yeah,” placing his hands on the back of his head, he added, “don't get used to it.”

Sasha let out what sounded like a chuckle.

“Come on, I'll show you to the guest room.”

* * *

 

”I see, it seems like they're a step ahead us.” Erwin observed from the information he had just received from Eren.

“Miss Bruas’ friend, may also be in jeopardy so I'm going to assign Petra to be on her surveillance to make ensure her safety.”

“Yes sir.”

“Very well. Then I need you to tell tell Levi to pay Miss Lenz a visit and inform Miss Braus of what we talked about as well.”

Eren nodded and was about to walk out if the room as Hanji walked in.

“Hello Eren.” she greeted him first.

“Hey Hanji.”

Smiling she turned to her husband, “Erwin I received a call from the lab we got a match on the fingerprints on the letter as well as  DNA  and that we got from the scene of the crime.” she informed him.

Getting up from his seat he loomed at both Eren and Hanji, “Let's go see.”

“Yes sir.”

* * *

 

Sasha looked over Connie's notebook.

“Ugh! Those are a lot of notes. Did I really miss this much?”

“Sash you were out for a week.”

Sasha placed her head on the desk. The buzz cut patted her back. “By the way our final is in two days.”

The brunettes head shot up she turned to her friend, “Please tell me you're joking.”

“I wish I was.”

“Aww fuck my life.” She muttered.

“You can borrow my notes if you want or I can make you a copy of them.”

“Thank you! You are a lifesaver.”

“Don't mention it,” Connie glanced around the classroom, most of the students say in the front of the class to pay attention, and where they were seated there was one other student on the far end of their row so no one would hear them. And with the teacher running late, he figured now would be a better time than ever go ask, “So what's been going on since we last spoke. You kind of left without saying a thing.”

“It's complicated. But to make a story short I have a notorious gang after me they may know where I am and I am scared.”

“But why-” the buzz cut stopped mid sentence as he noticed a man standing behind Sasha.

Sasha's eyebrows scrunched together, “What are you-”

A voice cut her off. “Hey Sasha.” The brunette turned around to see Eren standing behind her in plain clothes, hands in his pockets. He gave her a sheepish grin “I kind of need you to come with me.”

“Now?” She asked silently hoping that it could wait until after her class.

“Yeah, we need to leave right now.”

Sighing she packed up her book and grabbed her messenger bag, turning to Connie she shot him a sad look. “See you later.”

“See you Sash, and I'll make you copies so don't worry.”

“Thank you Connie.” She said as she walked out of the classroom behind Eren.

* * *

 

Krista gave Sasha a smile as she passed her on the way out of the police station, with Petra and Eld behind her.

“What are you doing here?”

“They're going to brief you now I believe, so you'll be informed shortly, but I'll see you at work later right? And we can talk more there.”

“Yeah I'll see you later.”  

Sasha continued to follow Eren towards Erwin's office. The door was held open by Jean who had been called in an hour prior.

The two walked in with Jean letting the door close on its own.

“Hello sir.” she greeted him.

“Good afternoon Miss Braus, how are you?” he asked.

“I'm doing well thank you.”

Nodding in reply, “I'm going to get to the point. As you are aware, I've been informed of what Miss Lenz told you last night.  We had her come down to issue a formal statement, she wasn't forced to by any means, she did so willingly, stating that she would do anything if it meant it would help you out. We have the forensic results from the crime scene came back with several matches, some of which are repeat offenders so we have their mug shots. This of course means there was more than one person directly in charge of your father's murder.”

The brunettes eyes widened. ‘Daddy what did you have to go through in those last few  moments.’ she thought.

“We asked Miss Lenz  if she would take a look at the photos, after she had made her statement, to see if one of them was the man she who was looking for you and she was able to point out the man.”

“Oh my gosh.” Sasha whispered. How smart was this gang being able to almost get this close to her? And what would happen to Krista? She knew that she could possibly be putting herself in danger by getting involved. But the next words help her put some of her thoughts at ease.

“I am not taking any chances, I assigned Petra and Eld who is also one of her other partners to keep her under surveillance.”

The brunette let out a sigh of relief.

“Now I have to ask, giving the circumstances, would you be willing to stop working until we close this case?”

Sasha bit her lip as she thought, this was all for her safety. However she could not stop working. It was what she needed to do to pay the bills, get her through school and it keep her busy. And that was the only thing that was keeping her sane at this point.

Looking over at Erwin she took a deep breath and exhaled, “I'm afraid not sir. I need to work.”

“Very well. I'm going to have Eren, Levi and Jean follow you and escort you in plain clothes. With them being undercover it should not raise suspicion to whomever the person Miss Lenz saw. There is still however a possibility they are steps ahead if us, and that they know what we look like. I don't say this to scare you, I'm just stating the possibility. But believe me when I say we are trying and working as hard as we can.”

“I understand.”

* * *

 

Jean walked into the kitchen with groceries in hand. He came to a halt when he saw Sasha on her tippy toes reaching for something in the top shelf above the stove. Normally this wouldn't bother him, however the dress she was wearing was hiking up the more she reached for the item she needed. This was the second time she had some form of what he deemed a wardrobe malfunction. The first time was on the first night she stayed at his apartment, she walked out of the guest room in nothing but her sports bra and boyshorts, because she had left her bag at Eren's house, needless to say he almost had a heart attack. He walked right to his room and pulled out the first shirt he saw and handed it to her. 

Shaking the memory from his mind he thought, ‘before I end up seeing something I shouldn't  see, let me go help her.’

Placing the groceries down on the dining room table he walked over and stood beside her.

“What do you need?”

Sasha jumped up a little not expecting him to be home that quick.

“Sorry didn't mean to scare you.”

Shaking her head she gave him a smile, “You just startled me. I didn't hear you come in.”

Sasha looked up at him, she never actually stopped to actually look at him. She knew he was good looking but in the year she's known him she's never stopped to really admire him. 

‘His eyes are gorgeous.’ she thought to herself as her eyes trailed down to his lips and thought of what would happen if she kissed him. But she quickly dismissed those thoughts as quickly as they came to mind.

‘Don't be stupid. This relationship is strictly professional and besides he probably doesn't see you as anything else but a friend… possibly.’

Jean waved his hand over her face as she seemed to  space out on him again, “Hey Sash, what is it you needed?”

Her eyes meet his again and she smiled sheepishly, “Oh sorry, I needed one of those bowls.” He reached over and grabbed one of the plastic bowls and handed it to her

Muttering her thanks, she grabbed the bowl and placed it next to the stove.

To take her mind off of the embarrassing thought she had minutes earlier she decided to make conversation, as she took a glance at the soup that was boiling.

“So how old are you?” she asked giving the soup a stir before turning the burner off.

“23,” was his reply before asking, “Why do you ask?”

The brunette shrugged, “Just making conversation, I mean we've known each other for some time and I don't know much about you.”

“Good point,” the man muttered before asking her, “how old are you?”

Sasha gave him a cheeky grin, “you know it's not polite to ask a woman her age.” She teased.

“Are you going to answer the question or not?”

The brunette pouted and let out a sigh, “You need to work on your people skills.” she tshed, “I'm 24 by the way.”

“Really?” He asked, “I thought you were way younger than me, I thought you were 18 or 19.”

“I will take that compliment.”

“What are you in university for?” he asked as he started putting away the groceries.

“Social work, I'm planning to get my masters.”

“Well that's interesting.”

“How so?”

“I thought you were studying Culinary arts or something.”

“Everyone I know thought the same thing!” she laughed before asking him another question. “So why did you decide to become a police officer?”

Jean was taken aback by the question. He hadn't really been asked this question nor did he ever speak about the reason why. The only person whom he had told was his mother and his mother strongly opposed his choice and was heartbroken.

Sensing his discomfort she quickly changed the subject, “Never mind.. Um..I made soup, do you want some?” Pulling the lid of the pot, she grabbed a ladle from the utensil drawer and started to fill her bowl.

“Sure,” he grabbed a bowl and placed it next to hers, “thanks.”

* * *

 

"Did you verify what if she worked there?”

“Yes boss. I think I fucked up though, the waitress who answered my question seemed to look at me suspiciously.”

“Don't worry Rich, I'm sending Mark tomorrow to make sure that she's consistently going to work.”

Rich looked at him and asked, “What about the police, she is under surveillance.”

“Relax, if they're still allowing her to freely go to work and university as Mark also found out then they may be none the wiser to our plans.”

“You make a good point boss.”

“Besides I'm getting tired of waiting, I need this too be done!” he turned to Mark and added, “tomorrow when they close the diner and cut the security cameras and make sure all tapes are destroyed.”

“Yes boss.”

“In two days we're going to make our move. Understood?!” he asked.

“Yes boss!”

* * *

 

**Preview**

* * *

 

Jean walked up to Levi who was standing watch on the opposite back of the diner.

“Hey Sasha's been in the back for a while now.”

“I know I asked Eren to ask Lenz to go and check on her since we are in plain clothes and can't go back there without looking suspicions.

“Okay then. I'll go back to my post.”

Krista walked up to Eren with wide eyes and she was shaking. Taking a breath to try and calm herself, she slid onto the booth  beside him and whispered to him, “Sasha isn't in the back.”

“What?!” he whispered, “Are you sure.”

“Yes, I checked everywhere she goes when she's on shift and all the employee only areas. The only place I haven't checked were the stalls in the bathroom, but the bathroom itself was empty.”

“Shit! Where the fuck did she go?!”

“I can try calling her cell phone from here maybe?”

“Good idea.”

Krista slid back out and headed toward the diners telephone.

The green eyed man closed his eyes and took a breath.

‘Why would Sasha just get up and leave right in the middle of her shift. It didn't make sense even if she was overwhelmed with everything that was going on, having known her as long as he has he didn't see her as the type to just go get up and leave.’

Seconds passed as he thought about the different possibilities. The brunette male opened his eyes as a thought came to mind, ‘Before I panic let me wait for Krista maybe she's gotten a hold of her.’

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: So things are about to pick up. No idea when the next chapter will be up and posted. I’m currently working on the next chapter of ‘Going Nowhere’ and two one shots that have been started and that I really want to finish. It's hard to concentrate when all these ideas for Jean and Sasha stories keep popping into my head. As usual this has not been beta read so I apologize for mistakes you find. If you do find mistakes please feel free to let me know as well. Until next time! Thanks for reading!!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 7**

* * *

Where did you learn to cook?" Jean asked Sasha as he got up grabbing up both their bowls and putting them in the sink.

"Eh, it's mainly thanks to Connie's mother and out of necessity that I learned how."

"Really?"

The brunette let out a sigh, "Yeah... I kind of had too, since my dad didn't really know how to cook much of anything but pancakes, coffee and bacon."

"What about your mom?"

Her honey brown eyes looked down at the table. "She...well...walked out on us."

"I'm sorry for bringing it up."

Sasha shook her head and gave him a smile albeit a sad one, "It's okay, you didn't know."

Jean tried to think of something to say to clear the awkward silence, "So you asked earlier why I became a police officer."

"You don't have to tell-"

"When I was five, my father was a victim of a drive by shooting. He wasn't the intended victim, but he died because he looked like the guy they intended to murder. The investigation lasted a few months, but no one came forward with any information, and the detectives in charge of the investigation never followed up with any witnesses. Eventually they let the case go cold. Til this day, I don't know the assholes responsible for my father's murder."

"I'm sorry." Sasha whispered eyes downcast.

"It was at that moment I decided that I wanted to be a cop, not only to help people but to make sure that what happened to me doesn't happen to anyone else. That's why Eren and I are so hellbent in making sure your case doesn't end up like many others do. And to make sure you're not another statistic or another victim."

"Sorry to have brought that up."

"No don't apologize in the end it was my choice to tell you anyway."

They both sat in comfortable silence.

"Come on, let's get you to work." the ashen haired man said as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Right, let's go."

* * *

Sasha leaned over the counter and propped her elbow on the table and cradled her face. She stared straight out the window with a bored expression.

"Don't look to excited there." Krista's voice said from behind her, seconds later the petite blonde was next to her and copied her exact pose. Sasha turned to look at her friend and was meet with a smile.

"What's the matter?"

The brunette shook her head in a way of telling her that nothing was wrong. Krista sighed. "It's not good to keep things inside. But I won't force you to tell me a thing. Whenever you're ready, I'll be here to listen." she paused and looked around the diner and added, "But the diner is pretty slow today, so we could probably have a power talk and hug it out before we get another customer."

It was true it had been a slow day the entire day. Sasha knew her friend had a point.

"I suppose… I really do want to talk about it." she sighed she glanced at Jean's direction and noticed he was staring in her direction. The brunette quickly averted her eyes and turned to her friend.

Krista gave her a smirk. "Would this happen to have anything to do with the cute cop you're currently shacking up with, does it?"

Sasha s eyes widened. "What?! No! And don't say it like that, it makes it sound like like well you know what I'm trying to say!"

"Sasha relax I was just teasing you, but honestly does it have anything to do with him?"

She bit her lip, "Yes and No."

The pretty blonde raised an eyebrow. She was curious as to what was bothering her friend so she waited silently until her friend was ready to speak.

"Hey."

"What's up."

"Can I ask you something first?"

"Of course, ask away."

"Why did you do it?"

The blonde tilted her head to the side and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Do what?"

"Tell the police about the guy who came by looking for me."

Sighing Krista looked at her friend. "Is this a trick question?"

"It's just I told you about what was going on and there's a huge chance that anybody involved or gets involved… well you know bad things can happen to them. I just don't want you, Connie or anyone involve for that matter to get hurt."

"...I'm not understanding the question."

"Why would you risk your life to give information?"

Krista looked at her friend and the sighed again. She leaned closer and leaned her head on her shoulder.

"Sasha, I'm your friend. We've been best friends since 3rd grade."

The brunette smiled as she remembered how they had met. Ymir was being well Ymir and was giving Sasha a hard time, she kept taking her crayons and then when arts and craft time was over, proceeded to glue her hands together, thankfully it wasn't super glue, when Krista had walked over to her table and gave Ymir a piece of her mind. A few days later the freckled girl apologized and the three of them eventually became inseparable.

"I know since you politely told Ymir to fuck off and to stop being a jerk that one day during arts and crafts."

"Exactly, we've been friends for a long time. And we've been through the ringer, and we dealt with Ymir moving across the country." She explained. Then she smiled sadly at another memory, "And remember the day that I found out the reason I was adopted, remember how you were there for me when I was so certain that I was better off dead because I believed so much in my heart that no one loved me? Your friendship got me through," the blonde explained holding back tears, "So you should know that I would do anything for you, just like I know you would for me. That's what friends are for!"

Several moments of silence followed, Sasha wiped her eyes and turned to the pretty blonde and gave her a smile, "Thank you Krista."

With tear brimmed eyes Krista smiled and elbowed her softly on her side. "Anytime… so are you going to tell me what is going on with Jean?" she said trying to think of a slightly lighter topic to ease the mood.

With a sigh and a nod, "You see things have been awkward the last three days."

"How so?"

"Well...the thing is we had an argument and we haven't talked since then."

"Just an argument?"

"No…" Sasha replied voice barely above a whisper, "We kind of...almost kissed."

Krista let out a loud squeal of excitement which made some of the eat in customers stop and look over at her. With a smile she apologized and then turned back to her friend. "How did that happen?"

"Well it started over the argument... Which was to make a long story short,over the fact he never told the head detective on my case that I was willing to help or volunteer my help in any way to help I can."

"Within good reason…"

"So it turned into an argument and somehow it ended with me backed against the wall and we both leaned in to kiss but then I pushed him away and ran out of the apartment like a bat out of hell."

"And you haven't said anything to each other since then?"

"No I had asked if I could stay at Eren's since the apartment I'll be renting will be move in ready by early next week."

The blonde blinked but bit her lip to keep quiet, not knowing what to say and knowing that it wasn't in her place to push. She could tell he must mean something to her, if it was affecting her the way it was.

She elbowed her playfully once more before saying, "Hey once this is all over what do you say we take a girls trip? Maybe we can go and surprise Ymir?"

Sasha smiled, "Sounds good."

"Good now let's get back to work…" looking at the clock she then added, "actually since it's not busy you can take lunch. I can handle it for 15 minutes until Mina comes in for her shift."

"Alright then, not going to argue there, I'll see you in an hour."

* * *

Eren silently watched Jean from his spot in the diner. Green eyes watched as the two tone haired man gave longing looks towards Sasha. He had been meaning to talk to him about what happened between him and the brunette.

To say he was surprised to find her at his house helping Armin with dinner two days ago. After dinner he had asked what had happened but her answer was vague and he didn't push her for more information sensing how upset she was. However things had been rather awkward and Levi's peptalk consisted of the shorter man telling Jean to 'handle it and get your shit together.'

The green eyed man figured he may as well ask and see if he can at least help somehow. He walked over and took a seat on the empty seat in front of Jean.

"Hey."

Glancing up at Eren he nodded his head in response.

"What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Jean asked.

"You should know what I'm asking you about." His head motioned towards where Krista and Sasha were standing.

With a groan, the amber eyed man crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged. "There's nothing to talk about, so can you just drop it."

"Look, I can see that you obviously don't want to talk about it, but you're going to have to eventually deal with whatever it is, so you may as well do it now. So whatever you did-"

"Why do I automatically get blamed for the situation?!"

"Well given your natural talent to piss people off and paired with the fact I dont know whats going on so what am I gonna think?"

Jean just gave him a glare and Eren sighed at his friend's stubbornness.

"Look, I don't like to meddle but in this case I'm going to make the exception. Whatever happened between the two of you is not only affecting you two but it's affecting your job. Levi noticed as you noticed yesterday from what he told you, but Hanji and Erwin are starting to notice and it's only a matter of time before he addresses you. So if you still want to have a job you need to handle this, now talk. What happened?"

Jean exhaled but didn't try to argue with him, especially since he made a point. He really needed to stop brooding and just man up and handle the situation. But he figured he at least owed Eren an explanation.

"We had a bit of an argument."

"I'm assuming there's more to that?"

"I...she... We almost kissed...look it's complicated."

Green eyes widened in surprise but as he thought back from the time they had meet Sasha, it all made sense. Well to him at least, Jean seemed oblivious to his own feelings or he was just really good at hiding them. The smiles at her directions, the nicknames, they teasing playful banter the glances he gave her when he thought she wasn't looking…

"Do you like her? As more than a friend, maybe?" he questioned.

Jean shrugged, "I can't answer that, I'm not sure…" closing his eyes he thought back to what led to the current state of things between them.

* * *

_Sunday nights were usually boring. Sasha sat quietly on one of the arm chairs Jean had in the living room, once in awhile checking to see if Connie texted back information about finals or Ymir, who for some reason thought it'd be funny to send her obscene texts or pics randomly. She didn't tell her friend what was going on or she may have very well jumped on the first flight and had been there by tomorrow and not wanting to bother her._

_Jean let out a sigh before turning of the tv. And throwing the remote beside him on the couch._

" _What's a matter?" Sasha asked him._

" _This is why I like working Sunday's, they're so boring."_

" _Can't argue with you there. I usually work open to close on Sundays to catch up on money because it's usually a good tip day. That and there's really nothing to do as you mentioned."_

_Leaning back Jean closed his eyes before opening them again, "Do you have anything to do today?"_

_Sasha let out a dry laugh, "Nope. I usually don't make plans, much less on Sundays. Like I said I normally work Sunday. Mina asked me to switch today so I'm off because she needed tomorrow off instead."_

" _Did you want to go get lunch or go downtown? If I sit here any longer I'm going to go insane."_

_The brunette laughed, "You aren't by chance asking me out are you?" she teased._

_Caught of guard his cheeks flushed a light pink, Jean huffed, "What.. No! Of course not! Look if you don't want to go just say so!"_

_Sasha laughed and slapped his arm playfully, "Relax I was only kidding," she said and then she asked, "Where did you want to go?"_

" _Well I'm hungry and the fridge is empty. So how about we go eat ramen then head to the supermarket?"_

" _Sounds good."_

_They both got up from their respective spots and Sasha grabbed up her phone, when she suddenly asked. "Hey, I keep meaning to ask but did you ever ask Commander Smith if there was anyway I could help out with anything?"_

" _I..." he paused for a second, "No." he finally answered._

_He saw her frown, "How come? Did you forget?"_

" _No, I just don't think it's a good idea."_

" _So you didn't ask because you don't think it's a good idea?" Crossing her arms over her chest, "That's a stupid reason, especially since I asked you too and you told me that you would!" She leaned against the wall and looked at him._

" _Look, the answer would have been no regardless so there was really no point in even bringing it up."_

" _You don't know that because you never asked!" Sasha exclaimed._

_He snapped walking towards her he put his hands on the wall on either side of her and looked at her. "Look I just think it's best you don't get involved! The last thing we need is for you to get hurt! We're trying to protect you and help you! We don't need you going in and possibly dying! Damn it can't you see that?!"_

_Sasha bit her lip as her anger started to boil down, still breathing hard she glanced up to look at him and her breath caught in her throat. Jean was breathing hard, she guessed it was from trying to hold back his emotions. Her honeyed orbs met amber ones and watched as through half hooded eyes slowly flickered from her own gaze to her lips. Her heart started racing and she licked her lips._

' _What do I do?' she thought as she watched as he leaned his face in and instinctively she inched her face closer to his, she felt his breath on her lips and she panicked._

' _No this isn't right.' she thought and she pushed him back. She gave him a sad smile, "I'm sorry...we can't...I'm just going to go…" and she ran out of the apartment before he could process what had just happened._

_Jean slammed his fist against the wall._

' _Fuck!'_

* * *

"So why didn't you go after her once she left?"

Shrugging in reply he glanced over at the empty table beside them. "I wasn't thinking at that point. Guess trying to figure out what was happening. There was too much going on."

"Sounds to me you have feelings."

"Well no shit Eren."

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what do you mean?"

"Have you ever been in love before?"

Jean raised an eyebrow quizzically. Just what on earth was he getting at? "No Eren I haven't. I don't see what that has to do with anything."

"Maybe you should take some time to think everything over because it seems to me like you may be falling for Sasha, you mentioned earlier you don't know how you feel but it sounds like you know and don't want to admit it. But that's my observation...However as Levi said you need to resolve the situation and move on. We still have a job to do. Just a word of advice…"

The ashen haired man looked at his friend, "And that would be?"

"When you finally realize the truth for yourself, tell her. We are living on borrowed time, tomorrow is never promised so we may as well life with no regrets. Don't wait till it's too late."

Shocked, Jean looked into his eyes and gave him a smile, "Since when did you become so wise?"

Eren shrugged, "Being with Armin made me realize a lot of things."

"Or maybe his genius is rubbing off on you."

"Eh…" he shrugged, "Maybe maybe not...anyway I'm gonna go ask Krista for a cup of coffee and the stay in my designated side for the rest of Sasha's shift."

Nodding he watched as his friend walked over to the counter to order his coffee. He frowned, he couldn't really be falling for Sasha, right? They were nothing more than just acquaintances...weren't they?

* * *

Sasha hummed silently to herself as she walked down the hall walking away from the break room and back to work. She had finished her lunch early so she figured maybe just to head on back early. Looking at the clock, she noticed that she still had about 40 minutes left. Shrugging she kept walking, once she walked into the clock in room , she pulled her employee card and slid it. Hearing the affirmed beep, the sign that she had been clocked back into work she placed her card back in its spot and walked out. She took three steps before she felt calloused hands cover her mouth from behind. Her body froze up in fear as she felt something cold and sharp pressed against her neck. Heart beating so loud she could barely heard a voice.

"If you scream or try to run, I'll kill you right here right now."

Her breath hitched as she processed what was going on and her options. For a moment she contemplated on fighting back she could probably make it back to the front and alert them. But then deciding against it. It was yet to be known if the person brought back up. The last thing she needed was a diner full of innocent people to get hurt because of her own selfishness. And even worse even if she did manage to get away, there was the chance he'd get away, but she was no longer safe, anywhere. Fighting the urge to fight back and the feeling of utter dread filling her being she did the only thing she thought was right at the moment, she gave in.

"That a girl. I knew you'd make the right choice. Now close your eyes and walk with me."

Nodding her reply she closed her eyes and walked, she was careful to do as he said because every couple of steps he would press the knife against her neck.

* * *

Jean walked up to Levi who was standing watch on the opposite back of the diner.

"Hey Sasha's been in the back for a while now. Her lunch break ended almost two hours ago."

"I know I asked Eren to ask Lenz to go and check on her since we are in plain clothes and can't go back there without looking suspicions.

"Okay then. I'll go back to my post."

* * *

Krista walked up to Eren with wide eyes and she was shaking. Taking a breath to try and calm herself, she slid onto the booth beside him and whispered to him, "Sasha isn't in the back."

"What?!" he whispered, "Are you sure."

"Yes, I checked everywhere she goes when she's on shift and all the employee only areas. The only place I haven't checked were the stalls in the bathroom, but the bathroom itself was empty."

"Shit! Where the fuck did she go?!"

"I can try calling her cell phone from here maybe?"

"Good idea."

Krista slid back out and headed toward the diner's telephone.

The green eyed man closed his eyes and took a breath.

'Why would Sasha just get up and leave right in the middle of her shift...It didn't make sense even if she was overwhelmed with everything that was going on, having known her as long as he has he didn't see her as the type to just go get up and leave.'

Seconds passed as he thought about the different possibilities. The brunette male opened his eyes as a thought came to mind, 'Before I panic let me wait for Krista maybe she's gotten a hold of her.'

The green eyed man let his eyes room the room and they landed to where Levi was and then looked over to where Jean was standing. 'Levi is in the back so if anyone weird walked back there they wouldn't have made it far. And Jean is in the middle. And everyone so far that has walked in has ordered and eating in or ordered to go. So then how..' his trail of thought ended when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up he was meet with wide blue eyes which were laced with a worried look. In that moment he knew the situation completely turned. The case was about to take a whole other turn and things were utterly fucked. He noticed the blonde had something in her hand.

He grabbed Krista's hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze to offer her some comfort. Then he thought back to his previous though.

"Hey Krista."

"Yeah?" she sniffled at this point the blonde was terrified for her friend. Her brain was thinking of several different scenarios and places her friend could be in she barely heard Eren's question.

"Can you gain access through the back?"

Krista bit her lip and thought. Then her eyes winded. "Yes, our manager has keys and she normally comes in through the back since ig avoids having customers trying to come in before ww open and the camera security system…" she trailed off aa she watched Eren's eyes go wide.

"Fuck!" he muttered. "How did we fucking miss that?! Shit!" Running a hand through his hair. "Stay here and as close to Petra once she gets here. We are going to have to leave as soon as she gets here. And as soon as your shift is over leave and don't go out unless you absolutely have too."

Before she could ask him anything he walked away and headed in the direction where Levi was.

* * *

Sasha's eyes snapped open in a panic. She sat up immediately as her heart started palpitating. She scanned the room and noticed she wasn't in Jean's apartment or work. The reality came crashing down as she realized that she wasn't at all dreaming, it was happening.

'How the hell am I going to get out of this situation?' the brunette asked herself. 'Can I even make it out of this, alive?'

"Ah I see you're finally awake." a voice said. Sasha's eyes narrowed as she stared straight at the man sitting on a chair, in front of her. "I was actually starting to think that you weren't going to wake up."

She pursed her lips as she gave the man a hard stare. "Where am I?"

The man shrugged. "Don't worry about that princess."

Sasha let out a breath. The tall lanky red head stood up and walked over to her. Placing a finger on her cheeks he trailed his finger down her face to her chin.

The brunette turned her face away. "Don't touch me."

The man narrowed his eyes. "You're in no position to be barking orders. But lucky for you, I have to go inform boss man that you're awake." with that he walked out of the room. Closing her eyes she heard as he closed the door and heard a click meaning she was locked in the room. Looking down at her arms with where handcuffed she sighed.

'What am I going to do now?' she opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling then around the room. Noticing there were no other doors only the main door and the only window had a bar blocking it for the outside. 'Is this how I'm going to go out? Is this how I'm going to die?' she asked herself silently. 'Then again, I wanted to help out the case and this is probably what would have happened so i suppose this is what I get for being stubborn and hardheaded ' She closed her eyes in an attempt to hold back her tears. Footsteps echoed and got louder as they approached the room and then stopped. Seconds of silence where followed by the sound of the door unlocking and being pushed opened. And Sasha held in a breath.

'And my nightmare begins now.'

* * *

**Preview**

* * *

Jean clenched his hands into a fist. He was far beyond pissed. Didn't they understand that they couldn't waste time.

"We can't wait around and do nothing! God knows what she's being subjected to!"

"We can't afford to blindly go in, that would be foolish. Don't be so quick to make rash decisions. Besides we don't know where she's at at the moment."

The reality of everything came crashing down. He clenched and unclenched his fist.

"Damn it all to hell!"

Eren placed his hand on his shoulders.

"Don't tell me to relax Jaeger-" he warned. Eren shook his head.

"I wasn't going to."

"Then-"

"We're going to get her back, if it's the last thing we do."

Green eyes meet amber ones and both men nodded.

"Right."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: Sorry had to end it there it was getting long. Also I am so sorry this is out so late. I meant to upload three weeks ago but I lost my usb drive that had my next three chapters on it and I didn't save them on my computer because I'm a ditz and I'm usually good at not losing things so after being sad and brooding for a week I had to try to remember all I had written previously and write it before I forgot, which I still forgot things I'm sure of it.
> 
> I will not abandon this story! This story will have an end! Next wait shouldn't be too bad two weeks, three weeks max. And next chapter it slows down it has a mix off flashbacks and current situations on both sides. Oh and there was a time skip from the first scene and the second, just clearing it up in case anyone is confused.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter and as usual this has not been beta read so I apologize for the errors you find, will get around to fix them soon. I'll see you guys in the next one!

**Author's Note:**

> Alexander is just the name I gave Sasha's father. And this chapter takes place a week before the events of chapter 1. Hope you enjoyed. The next chapter will be up in a few minutes. And once again, please leave a review, opinion or comment, I'd mean a lot. I will also take constructive criticism but no flames. Sorry for the lack of our favorite characters but I needed this chapter so the rest of the story can make sense. Till next time! Sorry for any mistakes or errors, I'm posting the un beta read chapters.


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